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Following their friendly match against Inter Milan last Saturday, English Premier League team Manchester City extended their stay in Hong Kong for pre-season training.
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The team conducted training sessions for two consecutive days at the Ma Chai Hang Sports Centre in Wong Tai Sin, a public sports facility surrounded by high-rise buildings.
This choice of an urban public venue for training has garnered considerable attention from a large number of local fans.
The team was preparing for their next friendly match in Seoul, South Korea tomorrow but opted to remain in Hong Kong for their preparations.
The club’s official website shared photos of the training sessions, highlighting the unique sight of world-class football stars practicing in a community sports ground, a stark contrast to their usual professional training bases.
Many supporters expressed their surprise and found the scene somewhat surreal, remarking on the novelty of seeing the players up close in a local neighborhood.
Over the past few days, fans have gathered not only outside the team's hotel, hoping for autographs and photos, but have also made their way to the Ma Chai Hang pitch to catch a glimpse of the training sessions.
The use of the public facility also led to a scheduling issue. Two Hong Kong Premier League teams, Eastern District and Hong Kong Football Club, were scheduled to have a pre-season friendly match at the same venue this morning.
However, they had to wait for Manchester City to conclude their training before they could access the pitch.
According to social media posts from staff of the affected clubs, the delay meant the local teams could not enter the field at their scheduled time, causing their friendly match to start later than planned.
